Are Mexican Taxis spotters for organized crime? Let's compare the following pictures

Picture taken by me

John Reed

reportingfrommexico.blogspot.com

REPORTING FROM MEXICO:  The picture you see above was taken by your truly as I was driving through a city in Northern Mexico.  If you notice carefully the cab has an enormous antenna on its top.  It is important to stress that the cab in question operates in a city with a population under 250,000.

It has often been said that in some cities Mexican taxi drivers work for organized crime as spotters.  What is a spotter? A spotter is a person that is paid to provide continual information concerning Mexican military, Federal or State authorities as they move around town. 

The cliche, "Information is Power," could not be further from the truth in Mexico and organized crime can "wire" an entire city through taxi drivers as they report important information that can be the difference, for them, of getting caught or not getting caught.

Now lets compare the picture taken above, by yours truly, with a picture of several New York cabs.



If you notice, none of them have an antenna and we all know that they are radio equipped.  Also, New York City has a population in the millions, which compared with the Mexican taxi the population is only 250,000. 

So what is our final conclusion?

I think you know where I am going with this.